Greetings from Antiva
by Theseus
Summary: more from the kmeme@Livejournal. m!Mahariel goes to search for Zevran post-Awakenings and learns you might not always like what you see whilst hiding inside closets.


Ka'el's plan had been to rejoin his clan once the Blight was over, and for awhile that's what he did. Help them settle, build, learn what it was like to live together again and have a place to call home. It wasn't the same, though, not even with Zevran at his side. It would never feel like _his _home again – not like it had when Tamlen was there, not like it had before the darkspawn and the Blight had ruined everything. Much as he was loathe to admit it, that was a part of his life was one he could never truly revisit or relive.

He was saved what might have been months of unnecessarily agonizing over it when he was summoned to Amaranthine. His duties to the Wardens were not over, and despite the Crow's pledge to stay by his side, they'd gone their separate ways. Ka'el could not help but feel the disappointment was one sided. He'd no time to dwell on it though, and as the events at Vigil's Keep unfolded he found blessed distraction in all of it.

There had been no time to think about Zevran, at least not until everyone else slept. The nights in Amaranthine had felt cold, empty without someone else there. Not just any 'someone,' either. He'd no time or energy to find true companionship with those who traveled with him, save Oghren's familiar and often very drunk face. He'd not felt such loneliness since he'd left with Duncan for Ostagar. The business with the warring darkspawn factions consumed him utterly. The heat of battle suppressed all the feelings he wanted to ignore. It was probably a good thing.

But that, like everything else, drew to an end and he found himself trying to find a way to put the pieces of everything together again. He needed time away from the Wardens, that's what he'd told Alistair. Who was the King to deny him that? Who was anyone to deny the hero of Ferelden a little time to himself? Had he not done enough? He left Ferelden the first chance he got, knowing well enough by then that the only way he'd ever feel any kind of completion was to find him. If Zevran would not come back on his own, if Ka'el had to be the one to play chase, then he'd do it. One letter was all he had, and it told him precious little. "Greetings from Antiva!" it had said. Well, Antiva was an awfully big place.

What he'd not expected was that Zevran would be so easy to find. For someone still on the Crows blacklist, he'd assumed no identity but his own and from what Ka'el to tell...he'd taken precious few precautions to protect himself. It surprised him. Antiva City was the first place he'd gone. It seemed the only logical place to start, and sometimes Zevran could be far more predictable than he liked to let mastered the art of guessing. He'd not been there two days time when he saw him. Zevran had taken up residence in a part of the city and an apartment not so unlike the one he'd described when detailing at least _one_ of the reasons for his love of leather. Ka'el couldn't say he shared the affinity for the smell, but the thought remained in the back of his mind. It was all he could do not to go to him immediately there on the street and grab him, shake him, kiss him, demand to know just why he thought he could take so long to show himself again. He resisted, determined to do things right, and remained out of sight until Zevran ducked into the building. All that remained was figuring out which room it was his assassin would be heading for, and a dozen silvers bought him that information from a man just inside the main door.

He could've, probably should've, gone right then. He'd started up the stairs and paused, thinking better of it. That was too easy. Just knocking at the door and waiting for it to be answered wasn't going to do the moment any justice. Ka'el decided to wait another day, though it nearly drove him mad to do it. Now that he'd laid eyes on his assassin again, all he could do was think of tracing the tattoo on the side of his face, of running his hands over tan flesh and feeling Zevran's lips against his. He managed to resist and came up with a (rather foolish) little plan. The next morning saw the Dalish elf rising very early, waiting just out of sight for Zevran to leave. Once he had, he made his way up to the room and made quick work of the lock with skills the Crow had promised to have but always fallen short on.

The room looked as if no one lived there at all, though the bed was at least made. The furniture was sparse, not at all what Ka'el had expected, and while the thought of waiting propped up on the pillows had a certain _appeal_, he found himself more drawn to the little closet. Catch him off his guard. Give the assassin a little scare to get his blood pumping. Yes, that's what he'd do. A rogue Zevran might have been, but in that...Ka'el could match him.

He waited for what felt like an eternity, watching the room through the tiniest crack he'd left between the door and the wall, before the door opened again, and already his fingers splayed against the inside of the closet door so that he might push it open at the right time. He went utterly still, however, when he realized that Zevran was not entering alone. A dark-haired elf followed behind him, and they had not been in the room more time than it took to lock the door again before the boy was devouring Zevran's mouth, insistently pushing him back toward the bed. Zevran's fingers were already reaching for the hem of the other's shirt, lifting it over his head as quickly as he possibly could.

Ka'el almost forgot himself as he watched their hungry kisses and the way Zevran tilted his head to bite the exposed skin of the smaller elf's neck, prompting a sigh. The mattress groaned with their weight when they fell against it, all hands and groping fingers. The remaining clothes were made quick work of. This was not...not how he'd thought he'd see that beautiful body again. When he'd imagined that perfectly tanned skin pressing up against someone else, the someone else had been _him._ Zevran didn't seem to care who it was. He was utterly lost in the other elf's body, tongue swirling around one of his nipples, one hand trailing quickly down over his stomach to settle between his legs. The dark-haired elf gasped when Zevran grasped him, and the assassin's fingers were insistent as he coaxed his arousal. Not that he appeared to need much help.

The archer, still hidden in his closet, took a silent step back until he was pressed against the wall. Blue eyes had gone wide as saucers at the start of all of it. Had he even blinked? Did he mean to just stay there and watch all of this? He was torn. He could've thrown the door open just then, pressed a dagger to Zevran's throat just to let him know he was there, and for a moment he did truly consider it. What did he owe him? _What_ did he owe him? He was the one that had come all this way, had looked for him, had wanted to find him...and this was how it happened. All those nights he'd spent wishing they were still traveling toward Lake Calenhad or Redcliffe or anywhere else, longing for Zevran to make an appearance at the opening of his tent with that familiar smirk and a very insistent '_You look so tense, my dear Warden..'..._Wasted. Why had he even bothered?

He glanced out of the opening again just in time to see Zevran turning the boy over onto his stomach, nimble hands reaching for a vial on the bedside table that Ka'el recognized all too easily. He felt ill, angry, and hurt in a kind of way he'd never known before. That was saying a great deal. The dark-haired elf shuddered as Zevran worked nimble fingers into him, preparing him, and damned if Ka'el did not start to remember just what that felt like. He didn't want to think of how long had passed since they were last together and his body ached for it more than he was ready to admit. Seeing it all play out right in front of him, watching the way Zevran's shoulders rolled back as he took himself in hand and positioned himself over the boy, nearly made him groan. Everything be damned, how could any part of him be enjoying this!

The blond entered the boy in one fluid motion, causing them both to shudder. Zevran's moan was so familiar to him that Ka'el nearly covered his ears to keep from hearing it again. It did no favors for his own growing arousal, which he was determined to pay no heed to. The mattress squeaked in protest of the movements atop it. Zevran had a hand between the boys shoulders, holding him in place like he never meant for him to turn, and his own eyes were closed. Ka'el wished he could manage to close _his, _but the longer it went on the more intently he watched them, his own hands shaking at his sides. He flexed his fingers, considering the idea with the dagger yet again, and already knowing he'd never do it.

It went on far longer than it should have before the boy cried out, fingers gripping the sheets as he no doubt found his release. Zevran's came soon after, and the way he arched his back as it hit him sent another unwanted ripple through the Warden in the closet. It was not only the way he moved, though. No, it was the name on his lips as he came, more familiar than all his moans and sighs. _Ka'el_. It had been clear, probably loud enough for the inhabitants across the hall to hear it if they were unfortunate enough to be home, but the archer still couldn't comprehend it.

Once he was finished, Zevran rolled off of the other elf immediately and lay on his back, honey-colored eyes staring up at the ceiling. "Go now." He said it in a tone Ka'el had never heard before, and though the boy looked at him askance, Zevran made no move to retract it. He remained staring at the ceiling until he was alone (at least as far as he knew). He brought his hands up to the heels of his eyes and from what Ka'el could see he looked as if he was pressing hard enough to see stars. A deep, shaky sigh parted his lips and for a moment he was utterly still again until he reached for the table by the bed again. What he lifted from it now did indeed made Ka'el clench his hands into fists. It was an amulet he'd given him not too long before the final battle with the Archdemon, and one that Ashalle had said belonged to his mother. The assassin had worn it then, but Ka'el had not seen it since and never asked after it again. That he'd kept it...and that he'd reach for it _now..._

All thoughts of the dagger to the throat fled from him. He felt almost dizzy, like all he wanted to do was sit there on the closet floor and bury his face in his hands. Had Zevran done all of that because he..._missed_ him? Was that too delusional to even consider? Yet that's precisely what he was doing. His hand laid against the door of the closet again as if he meant to leave it at last. Zevran had laid the necklace back down with a final glance and stood to gather his clothes, dressing silently. It was when his back was finally fully turned that the closet door opened.

Ka'el saw the assassin tense just the split second before he turned. The tip of a dagger was pointed at his throat before he could blink, and for that one, tense moment they just stared at each other. Zevran held his arm steady for what seemed like forever, recognition and comprehension slowly working its way into his gaze. The archer could see him struggling to make sense of it and failing until at last he lowered his weapon to his side. A series of varying expressions flickered over his face, disappearing before he could sort them out, as if Zevran couldn't figure out what he wanted to feel about it first.

"...I did not realize the new Grey Warden hobby was hiding in closets." It figured. The first thing he tried to do was break the tension with a misplaced and unwanted joke. Neither of them looked amused. Zevran tossed the dagger onto the corner of the bed and soon joined it, seating himself on the edge of the mattress. He looked..tired. "I would ask you how long you have been standing in my closet, but I suspect I know the answer to that already." And he clearly didn't know what to make of it. For that matter, neither did Ka'el. He'd not thought this out any further than opening the door.

"I thought I would surprise you," the archer finally began, but let the sentence falter there and never finished. "Well, my dear Warden, consider me surprised." The anger he'd felt when the whole thing first began hit him full force and Ka'el narrowed his eyes, fixing Zevran with a hard stare he couldn't remember seeing directed at him before. "That's it? That's what you have to say?" The pause that followed stretched on and on until the assassin spoke again, "What else is it that I should be saying? Do you require some kind of explanation for what you chose to stand and watch? I am merely assuming you did not remain in the closet to take a nap."

Blood rushed to color his face and Ka'el pressed his lips together in a thin line, still glaring, but it was difficult to keep it up. "No, I did not isleep/i." "Then what is it you want me to tell you? I..." Zevran was not one to struggle for words and no doubt he could have come out with something short and flippant with ease, but anything more than that took a great deal of consideration on his part. If his Warden had indeed been witness to all of it, even that moment that occurred just before he began to dress..."There are certain needs that I am compelled to fill," was what he finally said. The expression that came across Ka'el's face at that 'explanation' was one of pure hurt. The anger was buried all at once and it took a great deal of restraint to keep from simply walking out of the room right then and forcing himself to forget anything but watching Zevran bed someone else so easily. Forget his name, forget the necklace...

"Then I shall leave you to it." The words seemed to echo in the room and Ka'el turned toward the door, each step falling heavier than the last one. He didn't look back, and his hand was on the knob before Zevran moved to stop him. Tanned fingers wrapped around his wrist, always such a stark contrast to the paleness of his own skin, and the strength in them as much a surprise as ever. It seemed he was being tested. Would he pull away? Shrug Zevran off of him and go on his way? He didn't. And when the assassin saw that he meant not to, he turned him all at once and had his back pressed against the door.

"I missed you." The statement was so plain, so unlike Zevran that Ka'el could take it as nothing but truth. His throat felt tight, worse still with Zevran looking at him the way he was. There was guilt there, yes, guilt and exhaustion and worry, and all manner of things he tried his hardest not to let anyone else see. There would've been many iworse/i things if he'd let the archer walk out the door, though. Ka'el felt hands move up to his shoulders, pinning him against the door ialmost/i too insistently.

"I know."

Yes, he'd seen everything, and heard it, too. Zevran kissed him hard on the lips, his hands slipping back into the other's red locks and pulling the little braid loose immediately as he always did. "Then let us...move on to a proper reunion, shall we?"

They made their way to the bed in short order with Zevran guiding him backward the entire time, steering him with the grip he kept on his shoulders. Ka'el found himself caught between the mattress and Zevran's delicious weight on top of him within moments, but just as the other elf leaned to kiss him he put a hand up to stop it. "You have a lot to make up for." This earned him a little chuckle and an arched brow, "Oh, do I? I believe you are the one who ran off on urgent Grey Warden business." The archer didn't laugh, and instead looked quite grave. "If you think-" whatever that little spiel might have turned out to be was never discovered as Zevran sealed his lips with another, more demanding, kiss. Ka'el broke it with a sigh, enjoying the shiver that ran down his spine as the assassin trailed his skilled tongue across his lower lip. "Well, it seems I have my work cut out for me."

Zevran may as well have had electricity sizzling at his fingertips for all the effect it had on the elf beneath him. As he moved to slide his hands beneath his shirt, pausing briefly to tease the hidden bud of one of his nipples, he was rewarded with a soft moan. The blond smirked, fingers pinching just enough to make that sound a little louder. "Oh, I believe someone enjoyed the ishow/i more than they're letting on," he murmured, cupping his hand between the other's legs as he did. Indeed, it hadn't taken much at all to stir Ka'el's body back to life and he lifted his hips toward him right away. The auburn-haired elf twisted beneath him, reaching up to wrap both arms around his neck and draw him down to taste his lips again. "I still expect a better one."

Obliged to please, Zevran made short work of removing the other's clothes, keen on having him bare as quickly as he could manage. The time for talking had obviously passed. Tan fingers groped and squeezed here and there, lingering over each rib, kneading the pliant flesh of the other's thighs and very pointedly avoiding his arousal. That seemed to be working wonders for it. Ka'el was well aware of how overdressed the assassin was, though he'd not given him time to put on anything but his pants before he'd interrupted. Still...those pants had to go. He reached for the waist of them and Zevran leaned back, practically slithering out of them with little more than a tug.

The assassin was hard again already. Clearly every part of him had missed his Warden. Ka'el wrapped his fingers around him, biting into his lower lip as he did. He iached/i for him, and damned if Zevran didn't know it. Ever so slowly he began to stroke him, letting his fingers play over the tip of the darker elf's sex until Zevran finally gave him an impatient sigh. "You can tease me later if you'd like." He leaned dangerously close to the other elf's ear, nipping the sensitive point of it with his teeth, "But now I believe it is time you assumed the position, my dear Warden. This show requires hands and knees." As if for added encouragement, he reached down to give him an all-too-brief squeeze, reveling in the noise Ka'el gave in response.

He didn't need to be told twice. His fingers twisted into the sheets as he turned and Zevran was on him instantly, lips finding the spot between his shoulders and working their way down his spine. Ka'el arched against the kisses, nearly losing himself when he felt the warmth of Zevran's tongue tracing its way toward his entrance. He'd all but forgotten what ithat/i felt like. The assassin could do wicked, wicked things with that tongue, and he seemed determined to remind him of it. One hand slipped around to grasp his sex as Zevran moved his tongue against him, iinto/i him, drawing forth all manner of little sighs and moans from him until finally Ka'el couldn't stand it anymore. He was gripping the sheets so tightly already they threatened to rip. "Zev...no more." He felt him stop all at once and withdraw his hand.

Ka'el chanced a look over his shoulder and saw a knowing little smile plastered on the elf's face. "The show must go on, yes?" Zevran's voice was deep with his arousal by then, and it was obvious that Ka'el was not the only one eager to..move things along. He reached for that vial on the table again and the archer couldn't help but watch as he rubbed the oil over himself and reached to let a few drops slide down over his entrance. "Who's...teasing now?" Ah, he could barely stand to talk anymore!

Compliance came quickly enough. Ka'el felt the head of his cock pressed against him for only a second before Zevran thrust his hips forward, entering him so deeply and so fast they both groaned with it. It left Ka'el gasping, twisting his hands even further into the cloth he clutched.

An eternity since he felt him last, yes. He felt full, stretched, and desperate for more all at once. Zevran laid his hands on the other's hips, fingertips digging into the skin hard enough to bruise when he finally began to move again. There was nothing slow this time. Ka'el's head fell forward, auburn locks falling to curtain either side of his face as he moved back to meet the other's every thrust. Each one felt deeper than the last and had him seeing stars. Zevran slid a hand down his stomach and reached for him again, fingers wrapping tightly around his straining arousal. The feel of Zevran inside of him and the coaxing warmth of his hand was all it took. It wasn't long before Ka'el gave a half-strangled cry, his release washing over him in quick waves as he came. His muscles clenched around Zevran, and not a moment later the assassin reached his own peak. The Warden felt the warmth of it fill him, making his whole body shudder in response.

The archer lay with his stomach against the mattress and Zevran still half on top of him, pressing lazy kisses against his back, when it was over. When he finally rolled off, Ka'el turned and watched through half-closed eyes as the other licked pearly fluid from his fingers. Silence settled over them for a moment until Zevran stretched out an arm, beckoning the archer to lay against him. "You should hide in closets more often, I think."


End file.
